Photo by María Helena Carey
As you may have read on my holiday post, I used to hesitate getting a Christmas tree because trees get chopped down for a month’s worth of use and then they just get picked up and tossed in a landfill, in a seemingly senseless act of waste from our society. Yes, there is a small fiddle playing in the background as I type this.
Of course, trees are biodegradable unless they are covered in tinsel or spray-on snow, but to me there was still that feeling that all these trees were wasted just for a few weeks’ worth of excitement and presents. Some may argue that the holiday season is worth it, and they are probably right. But shouldn’t those once-lovely but now-dead trees be doing something more than just breaking down in a landfill? Incidentally, I don’t seem to be the only one to feel this way, if a recent article about recycling in Wired is any indication.
Anyway, when I moved to DC I learned that trees in this city are chipped, mulched and spread all over the flower and tree beds of the city to protect the fragile tree box soil during spring and summer and keep the trees more hydrated and happy in their otherwise harsh urban setting. It’s not quite like converting them into biofuel, but it definitely makes biological sense.
Now through January 16th, you can place your bare holiday tree –no ornaments, no tinsel (think of the animals!)– in the curbside tree boxes in front of your house. Then the wondrous elves of the Department of Public Works will whisk the trees away and take them to their Fort Totten facility where they have been creating, turning and seasoning a wonderful compost. They will add all those holiday trees; and come spring, they will spread this magical compound around every living tree in the city, so those may live better lives thanks to their fallen brethren.
If you haven’t placed your tree outside to be collected by January 16th (you naughty banana), you can still have it picked up with your regular garbage. So for those of you out there who enjoy having an Easter tree, you know that you can still rely on DPW to take care of you and, possibly, DCFD if your tree should become too dry.
But that’s not all! If you bring a suitable container to the Fort Totten facility, 4900 John F. McCormack Road, NE, Saturdays between March and October, DPW will be more than happy to share the wealth and give you this nicely composted mulch for free, so your Christmas tree can keep giving presents, long past the season of giving.